News

NIU Law Moot Court Teams Achieve
Success at National Conference

Teams representing the Northern Illinois University College of Law did their school proud at the moot court competition held as part of the 16th Annual National Latina/o Law Student Association (NLLSA) Conference in Los Angeles, which took place on October 4th and 5th, 2012.

The team of Jazmin Newton-Butt (3L) and Manar Zayed (2L) advanced to the quarterfinal round, finishing in the top 8 teams in the country. After impressive victories in the opening rounds, the NIU team was narrowly edged out by a team from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. More impressively, however, the team of Newton-Butt and Zayed were awarded Best Respondent's Brief for the competition. The team of Guillermo Gascue (3L) and George Michael Gomez (2L) also won both of their preliminary round matches, but came in just under the mark for advancement into the later rounds.

NIU Law was one of 21 schools entered into the competition from all over the nation. Their competitors included law schools from UCLA, Loyola University Chicago, Florida Coastal University, and South Texas University.

Professor Robert Jones and Professor Wendy Vaughn coached both NIU Law teams. “I am extremely proud of the four representatives we sent to the competition,” Jones said. “It was a highly competitive tournament involving teams from across the country and our students distinguished themselves. I am particularly proud of Jazmin and Manar for winning best brief honors against some of the top schools and moot court programs in the country. All four students deserve to be commended for their hard work and success.”

Following the competition, Jazmin Newton-Butt was the recipient of an even greater honor. She was elected to Attorney General of the NLLSA. As such, her duties will include organizing and running the national moot court competition for 2013.

A host of the Law School’s best minds helped to prepare the students for competition, including members of the faculty: Professors Elvia Arriola, John Walton, Mark Cordes, Dan Reynolds, Marc Falkoff, Jeanna Hunter, Meredith Stange, and Dean Lenny Mandell. In addition, last year's NLLSA moot court participants, third-year students Steve Sibo, Anum Muhiuddin, and Robert Hernandez, lent their expertise and guidance to this year’s competitors.

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For more information, contact:Melody MitchellAlumni Events & Public Relations(815) 753-9655 or mmitchell@niu.edu